This invention relates in general to vehicle wheels and in particular to an improved method and apparatus for producing a vehicle wheel.
A conventional vehicle wheel is typically of a two-piece construction and includes an inner wheel disc and an outer “full” wheel rim. The wheel disc can be cast, forged, or fabricated from steel, aluminum, or other alloys, and includes an inner annular wheel mounting portion and an outer annular portion. The wheel mounting portion of the wheel disc defines an inboard mounting surface and includes a center pilot or hub hole, and a plurality of lug receiving holes formed therethrough for mounting the vehicle wheel to an axle of the vehicle. The wheel rim is fabricated from steel, aluminum, or other alloys, and includes an inboard tire bead seat retaining flange, an inboard tire bead seat, an axially extending well, an outboard tire bead seat, and an outboard tire bead seat retaining flange. In some instances, a three-piece wheel construction having a mounting cup secured to the wheel disc is used. In both types of constructions, the outer annular portion of the wheel disc is secured to the wheel rim by welding.
A full face vehicle wheel is distinguished from other types of wheels by having a one-piece wheel disc construction. In particular, the full face wheel includes a “full face” wheel disc and a “partial” rim. The full face wheel disc can be cast, forged, or fabricated from steel, aluminum, or other alloys. The full face wheel disc includes an inner annular wheel mounting portion and an outer annular portion which defines at least a portion of an outboard tire bead seat retaining flange of the wheel. The wheel mounting portion defines an inboard mounting surface and includes a center pilot or hub hole, and a plurality of lug receiving holes formed therethrough for mounting the wheel to an axle of the vehicle. The partial wheel rim is fabricated from steel, aluminum, or other alloys, and includes an inboard tire bead seat retaining flange, an inboard tire bead seat, an axially extending well, and an outboard tire bead seat. In some instances, the outboard tire bead seat of the wheel rim and the outer annular portion of the wheel disc cooperate to form the outboard tire bead seat retaining flange of the full face wheel. In both types of constructions, the outboard tire bead seat of the wheel rim is positioned adjacent the outer annular portion of the wheel disc and a weld is applied to join the wheel rim and the wheel disc together.
In the above wheel constructions, the wheel rim of the associated vehicle wheel is typically subjected to a series of roll forming operations to produce a partially finished wheel rim having a desired final profile prior to subjecting the wheel rim to final forming operations. A typical sequence of steps which can be used to produce a full wheel rim for use in a conventional type of vehicle wheel is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,185,370 to Evans. As shown in this patent, the method includes the steps of: (a) providing a flat sheet of suitable material, such as aluminum or steel; (b) forming the sheet into a cylindrical hoop or band; (c) flaring the lateral edges of the hoop radially outwardly to produce a rim preform having flanges suitable for positioning on a roll forming machine; (d) subjecting the flared rim preform to a series of roll forming operations to produce a partially formed wheel rim having a predetermined shape; and (e) expanding the partially formed wheel rim to a produce a finished wheel rim having a predetermined circumference. A sequence of steps which can be used to produce a partial wheel rim for use in a full face type of vehicle wheel is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,579,578 to Ashley, Jr.
Prior art FIG. 1 illustrates a prior art wheel rim roll forming apparatus, indicated generally at 200, which can be used in the step (d) above to subject a flared wheel rim preform (shown in phantom in prior art FIG. 1 at 202), to a series of roll forming operations to produce a partially formed wheel rim (202′) having a predetermined shape. As shown therein, the prior art wheel rim roll forming apparatus 200 includes a guide ring 204 that is positioned at a predetermined location with respect to the wheel rim preform 202. Other than an inboard roll 210 and an outboard roll 212 of the apparatus 200, the components of the apparatus 200 on a right hand side and a left hand side thereof are generally the same. Therefore, any discussion of the components on one side of the prior art wheel rim forming apparatus 200 will apply to the other side thereof.
The guide ring 204 is generally L-shaped and has an outer flanged portion 206 which defines an inner surface 206A. The inner surfaces 206A of the guide rings 204 are operative to define a width W therebetween. The width W corresponds to a desired width of the partially formed wheel rim 202′. Thus, any tolerance variations in the flared wheel rim preform 202 can be adjusted for by changing the position of one or both of the guide rings 204 as will be discussed below. Typically, the inner surfaces 206A of the guide rings 204 are equally spaced apart from a centerline C of the apparatus 200.
The guide ring 204 holds the flared wheel rim preform 202 in a relatively fixed position relative to the inboard roll 210 and the outboard roll 212. The flared wheel rim preform 202 is also positioned on and is supported relative to the inboard roll 210 and outboard roll 212. The inboard roll 210 is positioned within the prior art wheel rim forming apparatus 200 by spacer 214, shown schematically in FIG. 1.
The inboard roll 210 defines a first portion of an inner engaging face 218 for the wheel rim preform 202. The outboard roll 212 is positioned within the apparatus 200 by an outboard spacer 216, that is also shown schematically in FIG. 1. The outboard roll 212 defines a second portion of an inner engaging face 220 for the wheel rim preform 202. The overall engaging face shape is predetermined to impart a desired shape to the partially formed wheel rim 202′. The inboard roll 210 and outboard roll 212 also have mating faces that engage each other. The inboard roll 210 includes a female mating face 222 that engages a male mating face 224 on the outboard roll 212. When the inboard mating face 222 and outboard mating face 224 are mated, the respective first and second portions of the engaging faces 218, 220 of the inboard and outboard rolls 210, 212 define the entire inner engaging face for the producing the partially formed wheel rim 202′. Thus, the mated inboard roll 210 and outboard roll 212 cooperate to define an inner roll assembly, indicated generally at 226.
The inner roll assembly 226 is separated from the guide ring 204 on each side of the apparatus 200 by a lateral ring 228 that is fitted about the respective inboard 210 and outboard portions 212 of the inner roll assembly 226. Each lateral ring 228 is secured to the roll member 210 by a plurality of fasteners or bolts 230 (only one of such bolts 230 being illustrated in prior art FIG. 1). Thus, 20 the lateral rings 228 are securely connected to the inner roll assembly 226.
Each of the guide rings 204 is securely connected to an associated lateral ring 228 and the inner roll assembly 226 by a plurality of fasteners or bolts 232. Typically, the bolts 232 are located around an outboard face 204A of each guide ring 204 and between the positions of each of the bolts 230 so that the bolts 232 do not contact or interfere with the bolts 230. Thus, during operation of the prior art wheel rim forming apparatus 200, each guide ring 204 is securely held to an associated lateral ring 228 and to the inner roll assembly 226 by the bolts 232.
The prior art wheel rim forming apparatus 200 also includes an outer roll member 234, that is positioned generally above the flared wheel rim preform 202, and thus, above the engaging face of the inner roll member 226. The outer roll member 234 is provided with an engaging face 236 having a predetermined profile or shape which is operative to impart a desired shape to the partially formed wheel rim 202′. During operation of the prior art wheel rim forming apparatus 200, the upper roll member 234 is lowered and rotated in a known manner so as to engage the flared wheel rim preform 202 during an initial roll forming operation. Thus, as is known, the lower roll assembly 226 and upper roll assembly 234 are operative subject the flared wheel rim preform 202 to an initial roll forming operation to produce the partially formed wheel rim 202′ having a desired profile or shape. The upper roll assembly 234 is positioned and held within the prior art roll forming apparatus 200 by a pair of spacers 238, 240 (shown schematically in FIG. 1) positioned on the opposed sides thereof.
In order to accurately position the flared wheel rim preform 202 on the prior art wheel rim forming apparatus so that the associated flanges of the finished wheel rim (not shown) will be within acceptable tolerances (i.e., W1 is approximately equal to W2), the position of the prior art guide rings 204 is changed or adjusted to accommodate for variations in width of the flared wheel rim preform 202. It can be appreciated, however, that W1 and W2 can be not equal to one another depending on the desired final structure of the finished wheel rim.
To adjust the position of the guide rings 204, the space between each guide ring 204 and the associated the lateral ring 228 can be varied to either increase or decrease the relative positions of the guide ring inner surfaces 206A with respect to the centerline C of the prior art wheel rim forming apparatus 200. To accomplish this, one or more shims 242 are placed/removed about the bolts 232 that connect the lateral ring 228 and the guide ring 204 together. This adjustment requires, as a first step, removing the bolts 232 (typically 4 bolts on each side for a total of eight bolts 232), from the associated components. Next, one or more shims 242 are added positioned about the bolts 232 on one side of the assembly 200 and one or more shims are removed from the bolts 232 on the opposite side of the assembly 200. Next, the bolts 232 are reinstalled through the guide ring 204 and the lateral ring 228 and threadably installed in the associated inboard roll 210 and outboard roll 212 threadably. As illustrated, the shims 242 are positioned about the guide bolts 232 between the guide ring 204 and lateral ring 228.